


Getting To Know Someone

by Spikedluv



Series: The Someone Series [5]
Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/M, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-28
Updated: 2012-05-28
Packaged: 2017-11-06 04:22:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/414647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spikedluv/pseuds/Spikedluv
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dawn meets up with Connor in LA.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Getting To Know Someone

**Author's Note:**

> Follows 'Wanting Someone'. Takes place 3 years in the future. ** indicate emphasis.
> 
> Thanks to Karen, for getting me started on D/C ‘shippiness and for being a great bud! And to Amanda, as always, my beta and grasshopper extra ordinaire.
> 
> Written: March 5, 2003
> 
> (Not re-edited for posting here.)

When Dawn woke the next morning, the hotel was silent. Connor was sleeping beside her, his arm thrown over her stomach. Pressing on her bladder. Dawn carefully lifted his arm and rolled out from under it. She scooted to the bathroom and relieved herself with a sigh.

It wasn’t until she stood to wash her hands that she noticed that the sink was full of water, and the roses Connor had bought her. She smiled as she reached out to touch one of the petals.

“Hey,” Connor spoke softly behind her, and she jumped.

“Connor!” she squeaked, and turned around to slap his arm. Connor just smiled at her.

“Ready for a shower?” he asked, as he moved past her and turned on the water.

“You, uh, you can go first,” Dawn waved her hands at the shower and started to back out of the room.

Connor grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. “No sense wasting water,” he smiled, and lowered his face to hers for a kiss. “Come on,” he stepped into the shower and tugged her after him.

Dawn stepped into the shower and let Connor push her under the spray of water. He made sure her hair was wet and reached for the shampoo. He squirted some into his hand and then looked at her hair thoughtfully. She had a lot more hair than he did, so she’d probably need more shampoo. He added some more, and rubbed his hands together.

“I only have the kind with the conditioner in it,” he apologized, as he reached for her hair.

Dawn watched him measure out the shampoo with a smile. “That’s okay,” she said. She almost melted as he worked it into her hair and massaged her scalp. “Connor,” she moaned as her eyes fell shut, “that feels so good.”

Connor just smiled. He rinsed the shampoo out and began to soap up her body, paying special attention to her breasts.

Dawn giggled and batted at his hands. “I think they’re clean!”

“You can never be too careful,” Connor said seriously, as he ignored her hands and continued to massage and knead her breasts.

“Connor,” Dawn almost groaned. “Aren’t we supposed to be getting clean?”

“Who said that?” Connor asked, and leaned forward to kiss her.

Dawn grabbed the soap out of the dish and lathered up her hands. She ran them over his chest and down his stomach, until she could wrap soapy fingers around his erect cock.

“Dawn!” Connor moaned into her neck.

“Yeah, baby?” Dawn said, as she ran her thumb over the tip of his cock, playing with the slit there.

“Oh, fuck,” Connor lifted her and pressed her against the wall. He pressed his head against her and then froze. “Shit, shit, shit!” he groaned.

“Connor, what...?”

Connor pushed the shower door open and carried her to the bedroom. He tossed her on the bed and pulled the drawer out, almost dumping it on the floor in his haste. He grabbed a foil packet, tore it open, and covered himself.

Dawn opened her legs as Connor climbed over her, her body thrumming as his urgency spread to her. He pressed against her, and then slid into her. “Connor,” she moaned her approval.

“Hold on,” he whispered, and Dawn did.

***

After they finished showering and wiped up the water they’d trailed from the bathroom to the bedroom, Connor handed Dawn a pair of sweats and a t-shirt.

“What’s this for?” she asked, as she studied the gray sweats and the blue t-shirt.

“For you to wear,” he said with a frown, as he pulled on a pair of briefs and stepped into a pair of black sweats.

“What’s wrong with my clothes?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he said from inside his green t-shirt, “if you’re going out for dinner and dancing. Trust me,” he said as his head reappeared.

Shaking her head, Dawn slipped into the sweats and t-shirt. While she was dressing, Connor stripped the wet sheets off of the bed. Dawn walked over to the full-length mirror and looked at her reflection. The sweats fit, but because they were made for a guy, were a little loose in the waist and a little snug over her hips.

Dawn looked up and saw Connor standing behind her, his hands full of towels and bedding, his eyes on her ass. She stared at him until his eyes rose to meet hers in the mirror. He smiled and waggled his eyebrows, “I like ‘em!”

Dawn rolled her eyes and let the t-shirt fall. “Pervert,” she muttered as she followed Connor out of the room, her bare feet padding against the floor. Connor threw the towels and sheets into the washing machine and led Dawn to the kitchen. Angel and Cordy were sitting at the table with mugs of blood and coffee, and the Sunday paper.

“Morning,” Connor greeted his parents as he headed for the coffee pot to pour himself a cup. He held the pot up to Dawn in a silent question and she nodded thankfully.

“Morning, son, Dawn,” Angel replied, setting his section of the paper down and leaning back in his chair.

“Morning, honey,” Cordy greeted him. “Morning, Dawn.”

Connor gave Cordy a kiss and pulled out a chair for Dawn before sitting between them. He reached for the half-n-half and added some to his coffee, and then passed it to Dawn.

“Morning, Cordy. Angel,” Dawn greeted them as she sat, blushing at Angel’s smirk, only partially hidden behind the mug he was sipping from.

Connor took a sip of the coffee and sighed deeply in satisfaction. “Are the others coming for breakfast?” he asked.

“Yeah, they’ll be here at ten,” Cordy replied distractedly.

“Ten?” Connor protested, looking up at the clock. “That’s like...oh, about fifteen minutes from now.”

“Look, there’s a shoe sale at the mall,” she continued. “Need shoes, Dawn?” she looked up at the younger girl.

“Oh, uh, no, not really,” Dawn stammered. Connor just smiled at her.

“I’ve got plans for Dawn, Mom,” he said.

“Well, when do I get her?” Cordy pouted. “Faith and Fred hate going shopping.”

“No,” Angel disagreed. “They just hate going shopping with you.”

“Mom thinks it should be an Olympic event,” Connor leaned over and whispered to Dawn, loud enough for Cordy to hear.

“Oh, you!” she swatted him with the paper, and then stood up and gathered the rest of the paper together.

“Scrambled eggs okay?” Angel asked as he stood and carried his empty mug to the sink. “Faith and Wesley are going to stop for bagels and croissants.”

“Sounds good!” Connor said as he slipped an arm around Dawn’s shoulders.

“Yeah,” Dawn nodded, leaning into him.

***

After breakfast, Connor took Dawn down to the basement and showed her their training room.

“Wow!” she said as she walked around the room, touching the staffs on the wall, the mats rolled up on the floor. “Neat. So, why are we here?”

“You said you needed some cardio,” Connor said, taking a pair of boxing gloves off of the shelf and tossing them to Dawn.

“Can’t we just jump rope or something?” Dawn frowned at the gloves.

After an hour working out with Connor, Dawn was ready to call it quits. Her heart was hammering in her chest, her breathing haggard, and her muscles about to melt into a puddle. So she allowed them to, letting herself fall bonelessly to the mat they were standing on. “I don’t like you anymore,” she pouted as she lay on the mat.

Connor squatted beside her. “You quitting already?” he asked with a smile.

“Go away,” Dawn frowned at him, wondering if she had enough energy left to knock that smile off of his face.

Connor just laughed.

“Hey, C, what’s up?” Faith asked as she skipped into the room, and stopped short. “Did you kill her?”

“Yes,” Dawn muttered.

“She’s just tired,” Connor said protectively, lifting Dawn to her feet and helping her over to one of the mats still rolled along the wall. Dawn sat, thought for a second, and then lay down on her back.

“That’s what you get for keeping her up all night,” Faith teased. “Wanna give me a try?” She hopped on her feet and reached out to tap Connor’s cheek with her fingers, and then dance back away from him.

“You gonna be alright?” Connor asked Dawn.

“Do I have to move?” she asked.

“No,” he smiled and shook his head.

“Then I’m good.”

“Sure,” he looked at Faith as he untied the gloves with his teeth. “Staffs?”

Without answering, Faith walked over to the wall and took down two of the staffs. She waited for Connor to remove his gloves and put them back on the shelf, and then handed one to him.

Dawn lay on the mat and watched Faith and Connor spar. Connor’s skin flushed, his bangs fell into his eyes, and the muscles in his arms corded. God, he was just so *cute*, she thought. Almost as if he could read her mind, Connor looked over at her and winked.

Dawn removed her gloves as she has seen Connor do, and by the time they were done sparring, Connor had sweat dripping off of him, and she was able to sit up.

After another shower, Dawn changed back into her own clothes, and Connor drove her back to her dorm so she could do her homework for classes the next day. Dawn had hugged him tightly and watched him drive away before walking up to her lonely room.

She carried one of the roses with her, having opted to leave the others at his place, liking the idea of flowers he gave her sitting on the stand by his bed. She looked around the empty room, glad her roommate wasn’t there, but wishing she wasn’t alone.

She had gotten used to being alone during her first two weeks at school, but after spending the weekend with Connor and his family, it wasn’t nearly as appealing. She packed her book bag and headed for the library. At least there would be other people there.

On the way, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed. When it was answered and she heard the familiar voice at the other end, she smiled.

“Hey, Spike.”

***

Monday evening Dawn was sitting in the library, reading the next chapter in the thick text she held. She was leaning back in her chair, her legs up on the table. She heard the sound of a chair scraping the floor and peered over the top of her book to see who had joined her at the table.

Her eyes got wide and her mouth fell open. “Connor!”

“Hey,” he smiled, and Dawn felt her heart speed up. “Wanna get something to eat?”

“What?” she asked, unable to wrap her mind around the fact that Connor was sitting across from her. Sudden, unwanted tears sprang to her eyes. “Oh, god,” she set her feet on the floor and reached inside her book bag for a tissue.

“Dawn? What’s wrong?” Connor jumped up and strode around the table. He knelt beside her chair as she wiped her eyes and blew her nose.

“Sorry,” she gave a small laugh. “I don’t...”

“Dawn?” Connor spoke her name again, as he placed his hands on her legs.

“Oh, geez, Connor!” she tried to smile, and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, burying her face in his neck. “It’s nothing, really. I was just...well, I...happy to see you,” she finished so low Connor barely heard it.

He smiled and stood, lifting Dawn out of the chair, and then sitting down with her on his lap.

“Connor!” she hissed in embarrassment.

He ignored her. “I’m happy to see you, too,” he said.

Dawn sat unmoving, and then looked over at his face. “Really?” she asked.

“Really,” he nodded. “But what made you cry?”

“It’s stupid,” she shook her head self-deprecatingly.

“I’m sure it’s not. Tell me,” he urged her.

She stared at her fingers as they tore at the tissue she held. “I didn’t realize how lonely I was here, until I spent the weekend with you,” she admitted, feeling tears fill her eyes again. “Oh, god,” she shook her head and wiped her eyes. “What a wuss. Don’t you dare tell Spike I cried!” she turned suddenly and pointed her finger in Connor’s face.

Connor shook his head ‘no’ and drew his fingers across his lips in a ‘zipping’ motion. “I won’t say a word,” he promised as he pulled her against him. Dawn curled up on his lap and rested her head on his shoulder.

“What are you studying?” he asked, reaching one hand out and flipping her textbook closed so he could read the cover. “Ah, ‘Demons of the 18th Century’,” he read off. “Didn’t know they offered that here.”

Dawn giggled. “I was bored with Modern English,” she said.

“Bored enough to get out of here and go get something to eat?” Connor repeated his dinner invitation.

“What did you have in mind?” she asked.

“Just you,” Connor said.

“What?” Dawn sat up and blushed.

“I mean,” Connor blushed as he realized what he’d just said, and corrected himself, “anything, as long as you’re there!”

Dawn laughed, looked at the expression on Connor’s face, and laughed again. “Thank you, Connor,” she said when she had calmed down.

“I’m here to serve,” he said wryly.

“There’s a pizza place on campus if you wanna go there,” Dawn suggested.

“Pizza sounds good,” Connor pushed Dawn to her feet and she packed the book away in her book bag. She picked up her leather jacket and Connor took it from her, holding it as she slipped her arms into the sleeves.

“Thanks,” she smiled shyly, and picked up the bag. Connor took the bag from her before she could sling it over her shoulder, and carried it in one hand, as he reached for her hand with the other.

Dawn blushed happily as Connor led her from the library.

“How’d you find me?” she asked, as they walked towards the pizza parlor.

“Stopped by your room first,” he replied. “Your roommate said you hang out in the library a lot. Even told me where your favorite table was.”

“She did?” Dawn asked, surprised that her roommate had even paid that much attention to her.

***

Dawn gave Connor her class schedule, and over the next couple of days they met for lunch or supper, whatever their schedules allowed. Friday afternoon, Connor called her to tell her he couldn’t make it for their planned dinner date; Cordy’d had a vision and they needed to research.

“I can help!” Dawn said. “I’m good at research.” There was a long pause, and Dawn could have slapped herself. “Sorry,” she said, “I shouldn’t have...”

“You really want to help?” Connor asked.

“Of course, Connor!” she said.

“I’ll be there in twenty,” he said and hung up. Dawn moved the phone away from her ear and stared at it with a shake of her head before pressing the ‘off’ button, and then she smiled. If everything worked out, she wouldn’t be coming back here until Sunday night.

She grabbed a duffel bag and stuffed it with clothes she might need. Jeans and t-shirts, a nightie, should she have the opportunity to use it, a pair of black slacks and a stretchy black tank she could wear if they went out, and several sets of underclothes. She looked at her feet and decided the low-heeled, black boots she had on would work for any outfit.

She grabbed her book bag and threw in a couple of books and the laptop Willow had gotten her for a graduation present. Once her bags were packed, she looked in the mirror to make sure she looked okay. She brushed her hair and pulled it back in a barrette. Just as she was adding her brush and toothbrush to her bag, her roommate returned to the room.

She stopped short when she saw that Dawn had packed her bags. “Going home for the weekend?” she asked.

Dawn looked over at the other girl. Her black hair was cut in a bob and she had the bluest eyes Dawn had ever seen. They hadn’t hit it off from the first moment they met, though neither had said a harsh word to the other. Mostly they just ignored each other.

After Dawn had returned to the room Monday night, she had thanked Sara for letting Connor know where he could find her. ‘No problem’, the other girl had replied with a hesitant smile. Since then they had been more cordial to each other, but still not overly friendly.

“Uh, no, actually,” Dawn blushed, “I’m spending the weekend with Connor.”

“Oh,” Sara nodded, as she set her book bag on the desk on her side of the room. “That’s nice. Have you known him long?”

“Well,” Dawn gave a little laugh, “we met once, before I came here for school, a couple of years ago, but we hated each other.”

“No way!” Sara replied.

“Way,” Dawn nodded.

“I mean, the way he looks at you...I’d never have thought that.”

“You think he looks at me? I mean, you know, that way?” Dawn asked hopefully.

“He *so* looks at you that way!” Sara laughed, and Dawn joined her.

“What are you doing this weekend?” Dawn asked, sitting on her bed and resting her arm on the duffel bag.

“Oh, nothing. I thought if you were staying in town we could do something,” Sara said casually as she unpacked her book bag.

Dawn’s mouth dropped open. “You did?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Sara shook her head without turning and looking at Dawn. “No big.”

“I..I thought you didn’t like me,” Dawn said.

“Why would you think that?” Sara turned to look at Dawn in surprise.

“Well...when I got here...”

“I thought you didn’t like me,” Sara said quietly.

“You’re kidding?” Dawn responded. Sara just shook her head ‘no’. Dawn stared at her, and then laughed. “Are we idiots, or what?” Dawn said. “I hated it here, when I first got here. I wanted to leave home so badly, and then when I got here, I missed everyone so much. I was miserable,” Dawn admitted.

“Me too,” Sara said.

“Where’s your family?” Dawn asked.

“Idaho.”

“Sunnydale,” Dawn admitted, with a roll of her eyes.

“Only two hours away?” Sara squealed.

“Yeah, pathetic, huh?” Dawn smiled. “You know, I think Connor has plans for tonight, but if we go to this club he knows tomorrow night, you wanna go?” Dawn asked.

“Really?” Sara asked.

“Yeah,” Dawn said with a smile. “It’s different. Bet Idaho has nothing like it!”

“Alright,” Sara shrugged, “if it’s not an imposition.”

Sara wrote her cell phone number on a piece of paper and Dawn stuck it in a pocket of her book bag. She put her leather jacket on and hoisted both bags. “I’ll call you,” she said as she walked out of the room to meet Connor.

When she got down to the street where Connor had parked, he was leaning against the car, his arms crossed over his chest, his head tilted down as he waited for her. Dawn smiled and shook her head at the way his hair fell forward, and then she was running towards him.

Something alerted him, and Connor lifted his head. Dawn was running toward him, her hair streaming behind her. She stopped in front of him, breathless from the exertion and the excitement of seeing him, a big smile splitting her face.

“Hi,” she tossed her bags into the back seat and then jumped at him. Connor opened his arms and caught her, holding her tightly against him.

“Hi, yourself,” he said, lowering his head to kiss her.

***

“What’s up with Cordy’s vision?” Dawn asked Connor after he helped her into the car and settled behind the steering wheel.

“Oh, the usual,” Connor smiled, as he pulled away from the curb. “Big ugly demon, gotta figure out how to kill it so we can go...kill it.”

When they got back to the hotel, everyone was busy researching, except for Gunn and Faith, who were cleaning and checking the weapons. Connor set Dawn’s bags near the stairway and, after Cordy told them what they were looking for, each grabbed a book and started researching.

Two hours and three pots of coffee later, Fred said, “Found it. I think.”

Cordy got up and ran over to the other girl and looked at the image on the computer screen. “That’s it,” she said. “What’s it say?”

Fred leaned closer to the screen and scrunched her face up in concentration. “N’gartoth. Fire demon...because it sets its victims bodies on fire after it takes their hearts.”

“Yuck!” Cordy made an ‘ew’ face.

“How do we kill it?” Angel came up to stand behind Cordy and look over her shoulder.

“Uh,” Fred read the information on the screen. “Cut off its head!” she yelled when she finally found the information. “Oh.”

“Oh, what?” Gunn asked.

“That’s not as easy as it sounds. They have steel-like scales around their neck to protect their head.”

“What have we got that’ll take care of steel-like scales?” Faith hefted the double-headed axe she’d been cleaning.

“Take extra weapons in case we dull them cutting through its scales,” Angel said as he walked over to the weapons. He reached into a drawer and pulled out a hammer, hefted it in his hand, and laid it on the pile of weapons.

“What’s that gonna do?” Gunn asked.

“In case we need to remove some of the scales,” Angel said.

“Eww,” Cordy said.

“Well,” Dawn said. “What now?”

“We know where it’s gonna be, when it’s gonna be there, and how to kill it,” Faith said. “Now we just wait.”

“Oh,” Dawn said. “I’ve always hated that part.”

“You and me both,” Faith gave the axe a final check and added it to the growing pile of weapons.

“How about some pizza while we wait?” Connor suggested.

“Cool,” Faith said. “I could eat.”

“You can always eat,” Wesley commented wryly from his place at the desk where he was studying the information on the demon.

Connor pulled Dawn over to the desk and picked up the telephone and called in their pizza order. “You don’t get sick of pizza do you?” he asked. “‘Cause we live on it.”

“No,” Dawn smiled and leaned up against him. “Do you, uh, have plans for tomorrow night?” Dawn asked.

“Nothing set in stone. Why?”

“I told Sara that if we went out, she could come with us,” Dawn said.

“Who’s Sara?” Connor asked.

“My roommate,” Dawn blushed.

“Your roommate?” Connor asked. “Thought you two didn’t like each other.”

“She’s alright, I guess,” Dawn shrugged and smiled.

***

When it was time to leave to go after the N’gartoth demon, everyone picked out their weapons. Dawn looked over the remaining weapons and hefted a small axe. She twirled it around to get the feel of it, nodded her head, and then reached for a dagger.

“What are you doing?” Connor asked from behind her.

“Picking out my weapons,” Dawn replied distractedly, as she examined the dagger.

“You’re not going,” Connor said. Dawn froze, and then turned to look at him.

“What did you say?” she asked, her voice even.

“I said, you’re not going,” he repeated.

“And why is that?” her face was a blank mask. She couldn’t believe *Connor* was treating her just like Buffy did!

By now everyone in the room had turned to look at them.

“Because it’s dangerous!” Connor said.

Dawn looked around the room. “Is Cordy going?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Is Fred going?”

“Yes,” Connor winced.

“And why am I *not* going?” she asked, her voice still even, though Connor could tell that she was angry by the flush covering her face.

“You could get hurt,” he hissed, still trying to defend his position.

“You son of a bitch,” she whispered, soft enough so that only Connor and Angel heard it. Her breath caught in her throat and she felt tears prick her eyes, but she refused to cry. She couldn’t believe this was happening; she’d thought that Connor was different.

She dropped the dagger and axe back on the pile and strode over to her bags. She shoved her arms through the straps of the book bag and settled it on her back, and then picked up the duffel bag. Without another look in Connor’s direction, she headed for the door.

“Dawn!” he called her name as he moved to intercept her. He grabbed her arm and swung her around. “Where are you going?”

“Back to the dorm,” she replied. “Now...let...go...of...me.”

“Why?” he asked, confused.

“I told you, that first night, that I left Sunnydale because I was tired of being treated like a child. I didn’t come here so you could treat me like one. She shook her head sadly, “I thought you understood.” Dawn pulled her arm out of his grasp and walked out the door.

End


End file.
